It does not matter how long your legs are, you can only take one step at a time.

I’ll Be Happy When…

Often times we find ourselves at a point in our lives when we begin to tell ourselves, “I’ll be happy when…” Lately, this has been coming up for me, a lot. Not only do I find myself creating particular stories in my head of ‘when’ I will be happy with my whole being but it has been coming up in conversations and articles I have read, too. The Universe is clearly trying to tell me something…

So here is a major truth flash —> With this whole “I’ll be happy when…”, we are setting ourselves up for potential failure in setting such an expectation.

For example, we tell ourselves that, “I will be happy when… I leave my job, my divorce is finalized, I meet this deadline, I lose ten pounds, etc…,” but life doesn’t work that way. There is never any guarantee that anything will happen. Life will go on. It will continue to change and evolve no matter what your thoughts and actions are.

For years I told myself that I would find true happiness when I was completely pain free. With numerous surgeries that lay ahead, it was wishful thinking. Then someone proposed the question, “Kristen, what if you always experience a little bit of pain? Are you going to let that hold you back for the rest of your life?”

Umm, no thank you. Once I realized that I could find happiness in accepting that my body is different, doing things a little differently is a beautiful thing and respecting my physical limitations is ALWAYS in my best interest, my life became so much easier and my happiness went ahead and hip checked fear right out of the picture.

However, the stories didn’t stop there. (Shocker.) My mind continued to create more ultimatums like, I won’t truly be happy until I find love. Again, I was setting myself up. For loving another person to even become a possibility I need to fall, head over heels, in love with the one person that I will be with for the rest of my life first, myself.

Bottom line: What are you waiting for? Be happy now. Don’t wait for an event, a person; don’t wait for anything. Now. Right now.

We have choices. Maybe your current job doesn’t bring you happiness in this moment. But chances are, something else does. Rather than focus on your unsuitable job and it’s inability at the present time to meet your needs, bring your attention to your family, the support you get from your friends, where you live, ground yourself with the help of mother nature…

Happiness is everywhere.

In those moments of happiness, brought by other areas of your life, begin to make changes surrounding what isn’t serving you. Life is a process and practice is progress.

Do yourself a favor and don’t waste anymore time creating limitations. Be happy NOW.

“Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.”-Guillaume Apollinaire